Tuesday 3 September 2013
The drive to Amagansett, which
should have been a smidge shorter than the drive to Montauk, took two and a
half hours. OK, I stopped briefly at the
grocery store, but the 2-lane highway was backed up for miles until I reached East Hampton, then it all broke up. As I got closer to
the end of the Long Island Expressway, the storm clouds built up to the
east. As long as I was driving east, I
drove toward the storm. By the time I
got out to Amagansett, though, the storm had passed, leaving several inches’
worth of puddles behind.
Didn’t arrive at Driftwood on the
Ocean (Montauk Highway,
next to the Hither
Hills State
Park) until almost 4, unpacked a bit so I could
get into the beautiful pool. It’s open
9-7 barring stormy (that is, lightning) weather. After swimming gently for half an hour (no
exercise in far too long, so I started slow), I walked out to the beach. Rough surf, just beach as far as you could
see east and west. I found myself a bit
tired, but pushed on. On the way back
from the beach, I stopped in the office to ask if any of the eating places were
in walking distance. Three: Lobster Roll (a.k.a. “Lunch”), Cyril’s Fish
House, and the Crab Shack.
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| view of the ocean dunes from my patio |
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| room with ceiling fan and patio |
After showering me and rinsing
the bathing suit (1 of 3), I hung the suit in the shower and headed out. It was dark twilight by then, and I walked
down the road from the resort toward Montauk
Highway. To
my right was the pool, then some separate buildings, perhaps cottages (what an
American would call a cottage, not a Brit), all shielded by the shrubbery and
trees of the dunes.
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| path to the beach |
In the twilight I
saw a deer. A buck, but not terribly
big. He watched me, and I motioned him –
all right, I told him, to go back into
the park. Don’t go toward the road. I walked forward, watching him, and he walked
parallel, watching me, bushes between us.
Then I saw the doe. I gave her
the same instructions, don’t go toward the road. Twilight and dawn are prime times for deer
getting hit by cars. She seemed spooked
and leapt into the brush. He kept
watching me. He walked between the
bushes and the cottage, watching me. I
walked along, keeping an eye out for cars.
One drove by me, but there were no awful sounds afterward.
Cyril’s Fish House is just across
Montauk Highway,
so I stepped around the massive puddles from the afternoon’s storm and ran
across the highway to eat. Bob Marley
sang all the while. Children marveled at
the mosaic fish scenes on the walls.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to
sleep. Pains, a bit of nausea – so glad
I brought that can of ginger ale that came with a Chinese restaurant
order. I had left the curtains slightly
open, wanting the dawn to wake me. Well
it did. I got up and looked to the east,
and the red band lightening the sky was beautiful.
Wednesday 4 September 2013
Woke much later than
planned. Put the “do not disturb” sign
out. I need nothing. My arms vaguely achey, as is my neck, as if I
slept badly. Which I did.
The patio is raised one story,
and concrete, with concrete molded fencing and wood fencing between the
rooms. If I stand at the edge and look
south east, I can see the ocean, just.
For a while, in the wee small hours, I could hear the ocean as the
traffic diminished. But mostly I hear traffic,
the railroad’s horn, and the creatures in the preserve. In the night.
Beautiful place, but I’d rather hear the ocean.
After a walk on the shore did
nothing to alleviate the stress brought on by some aggravating phone calls, I
went to Montauk. I made my annual stop
at the Montauk Bookstore, bought Shirley Jackson’s first published novel, and picked
up a few more things (of course) at the IGA.
The drive made me feel better.
Ate at home. Love my back patio
and the table. It’s all wrought iron,
the seat cushions firm but soft, and I put one on the back as well. Spent much time there.
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| sunset over the pool and the highway |
Thursday 5 September 2013.
I can’t seem to get myself down to
the pool for “adult hour” between 9 and 10.
Later morning, I swam for a bit.
Annoying children who didn’t belong on the deep end. I remember loving to jump into the water, but
that boy with the green goggles never let go of the ladder or the side wall, so
he clearly was too afraid to be in the deep water, but his adult was on the shallow
end of the pool.
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| sun paints dune and treetops gold as it sets |
In mid afternoon I took a walk
along shore, picked up some trash rather than see it washed out to say. Tide
was coming in, and someone was going to lose primary-colored earth-moving
machine toys. Sat for a while and stared
from a lounge chair piled up near the entrance.
Then at dinnertime swam in the pool.
Decided not to walk the mile or so to Lobster Roll but drive, and went
carefully at twilight (when the deer might be out again). Didn’t see them, did see a rabbit.
Again woke multiple times in the
night, had even closed the patio door in prep for a chilly forecast. Dreamt, I presume – someone walked along the
walkway of front doors, shouting that we should find the button on the blanket
and push it and it would get warmer. I
found small pearl sized buttons along the edge of the blanket, pushed one, and
it was warmer. Definitely a dream. Not a dream was my damn phone. It kept saying “Verizon Wireless.” Several seconds would pass, and then
something about “leaving service area.”
At least once an hour, as if the hotel were moving. The hotel didn’t move. At 3 in the morning I turned off the phone, and
therefore my alarms. Dream-filled sleep.
Friday 6 September 2013
Friday, last full day. It’s chilly, delightfully. Bright sun on
pool, kids there, I can’t go in just now but should go down there and just
scribble what they say. Little girl with
a harsh voice, the harridan cried, Emily,
you said you’d jump, JUMP! Emily
says she’s going to, harsh girl shouts VIDEO
IT VIDEO IT to her mother, who foolishly says OK, but Emily won’t jump
despite the harsh girl’s bullying. She
does later.
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| i do love my patio |
Saturday 7 September 2013
Woke a little after 8 from a
dream in which all the cat food dishes were totally empty.
It’s very cold this morning, so
tough to take advantage of “Adult Hour” in the pool. The weekend brought rowdies, the kind who do
4 to a room. They were rowdy up to midnight last night and they’re rowdy
now. Luckily there’s some barrier
between their patio and mine, but still.
Mostly packed, just want to take a plunge in the pool. As soon as I put on some clothes, I can start
bringing things down. I can walk along
the beach even after I’ve checked out, I know where the bathroom is, so I can
relax.
Note for next time – Although
checkout time is 11 a.m., when I checked out at 10:55, she said I didn’t have
to leave. That I could use the pool, go
to the ocean, whatever, and just use the shower and bathrooms in the Recreation
room, pretty much under my hotel room. So next time, I should plan on going home much
later.
Room 62 was lovely, but far from
the water, so I heard the highway, not the ocean until the wee small hours when
I should be asleep. Next time – a room numbered
in low 50s would be closer to ocean, and still have private patio overlooking
the ocean dunes.
A less than relaxing time, but
beautiful.
~ Molly Matera, back
home, happy to see the cats, otherwise miss jumping in that pool every day….
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